Michael Che and Colin Jost are widely known as the hosts of the Saturday Night Live segment Weekend Update, but on Oct. 23, students will have the opportunity to see the duo out from behind the iconic desk performing stand-up at ASU.
This is an exclusive, free event for students to enjoy some comic relief after the stress of midterms and to celebrate ASU Homecoming.
Marketing and supply chain management senior Elizabeth Cheney, who is also the homecoming director for the Programming and Activities Board, said that every year PAB hosts the Homecoming Comedy Show on the Tempe campus as part of ASU’s week of Homecoming events.
“I’m really excited about it,” said Cheney. “It’s a great way to celebrate the Sun Devil community and bring our students together to have a good time during Homecoming.”
Esmeralda Leon, a psychology junior, said she has never gone to the comedy show before, but that she is very excited to go this year as a big fan of Saturday Night Live.
“Since SNL is in New York, I’ve never been able to go,” said Leon. “So, for them to come to Arizona is really cool, especially for people like me who are fans of Weekend Update.”
PAB also hosted a Last Comic Standing event on Oct. 4. Comedic hopefuls each performed five-minute stand-up sets with the hope of winning an opening spot for the headliners of the Homecoming Comedy Show.
Rachel Javorsky, head of content execution for Tempe Late Night and a junior studying film and media, won the Last Comic Standing competition and will be opening for Che and Jost on Oct. 23.
Javorsky said she did not know who would be headlining the Homecoming Comedy Show until she won the Last Comic Standing competition, but she said she was excited when she found out.
"For Tempe Late Night we base so much of what we do off of SNL,” Javorsky said, “so hearing that I would get to do a show with some people I admire so much was really amazing.”
Last year’s show was headlined by comedians T.J. Miller from “Silicon Valley” and “Deadpool," and Damon Wayans Jr. from "Happy Endings" and “New Girl.”
Rayne Simmonds, a film and media studies junior, said that although she likes comedy, she was not very invested in attending last year’s performance. However, when she saw that Che and Jost were going to be preforming this year, she immediately knew that she wanted to go.
“I was super excited when I saw (the announcement),” said Simmonds. “I immediately texted my boyfriend and I was like, ‘We need to get tickets right now!’”
In previous years, the Homecoming Comedy Show was held in Wells Fargo Arena, but this year, it will be in the Student Pavilion – a much smaller venue, with only around 1,000 tickets available for students.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show will begin at 7 p.m.; students can register for tickets here.
Reach the reporter at abpotter@asu.edu and follow @abpotter4 on Twitter.
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